Lady&#39;s garment



H. s. KOHLER Er AL LADY S GARMENT Filed Sept. 23, 1935 Feb. 25, 1936.

3 Sheets-Shani INVENTORS :6; ATTORNEY.

Feb. 25, 1936. H. s. KOHLER El AL 2,032,323

LADYS GARMENT Filed Sept. 23, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb, 25, 1936. H. KOHLER Er AL 2,032,323

, LADYS GARMENT I Filed Sept. 23, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEIA pasta Feb.25,1936 t 2,032,323

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,032,323 LADYS GARMENT Harriet S. Kohler, Larchmont, N.Y., and 1 Frances B. MacKinnon, Westport, Conn.

Application September 23, 1935, Serial No. 41,4340 Claims. (Cl. 2-1:)

This invention relates to improvements in 111- of the straight out variety, which garment nordies garments and relates more particularly to mally employs the full width of the material, the an improved undergarment of the variety known central vertical line of the goods occupying the as a slip and also to the method of making position at the front .central portion of the body.

5 881110- The garment is constructed entirely in one piece In recent years, the designers of ladies slips except for a relatively small triangular portion, and the like have cut the material on the bias or godet, which is fitted into the lower rear porin an effort to cause the garment to cling more tion thereof. Although the horizontal grain line closely to the body than was possible with the of the goods occupies a generally horizontal poolder type of straight out garment. In so cutting sition in the finished garment, the cloth is never- 10 the material on the bias, the garment became theless so shaped and molded by means of a plupossessed of greater elasticity and resiliency, rality of darts of improved construction that the thereby making for a-more comfortable garment, waist portions of the garment have a decidedly particularly when one is sitting down. bias-play. In other words, by arranging the Another advantage of the bias cut garment is darts in the proper fashion, the grain line of the 15 in the fact that a garment of any given size goods around the waist to lower hip portions of will fit a larger variety of figures than would the garment is changed from a true horizontal the straight out garment, since the material yields position to an angle something in excess of 30 more readily to the shape of the body regardless thereto. The darts are of a tapered variety,.be-

of the position in which one is sitting or standing more narrow adjacent to the front central 20 ing. One of the principal objections to this type po ion or the arment and assumin a eat of garment is in the fact that when one sits width as they move towards the rear of the down, the central portions yield outwardly to acga t- T number 01 darts y y,

' commodate the increased girth and this expanpending upon the precise shape of the figure to sion is compensated for by the lower end of the be fitted. In general, however, two or three such 25 garment riding" upwards, and the upper end darts are sufilcient on each side of the garment. of the garment being pulled downwardly, with A garment constructed in the manner hereina resulting strain upon the shoulder straps. Anafter described in greaterdetail, is provided with other objection to the bias cut garment is in the only one pr ncipal seam, to wit, the vertical seam fact that unless one is sitting perfectly straight, at the central rear portion of the garment, and 30 the pull becomes uneven, thereby giving the two relatively short seams on either side of the wearer a feeling of strain. For the most part, godet. The avoidance of the side seams such as however, the bias cut slip is more comfortable are present in virtually all well fitting straight than the straight out garment, and the construccut garments, gives the present slip a greatly i-mtion of this type of garment requires considerproved appearance and it is also considerably 35 ably less material than does the straight out more comfortable to the wearer. The present imtype,.which is a factor for the manufacturer. proved slip also gives to the wearer a vastly im- The straight out type of garment, however, also proved silhouette, due in no small measure to its has its several disadvantages. In the first place, capability of. always hugging the figure, regard- 40 in order to cause the central portions of the garless of what position the body is occupying at 40 ment to fit sufficiently snugly, a seam is normally the given instant. When one wearing the presprovided on each s d of t e arment, which is cut improved slip sits, the garment has substanboth uncomfortable to the wearer and is noticetially the same degree of resiliency as the ordiable, particularly when a rather tightly fitting nary bias cut slip. It does not, however, ride outer garment is worn. Also, compared to the upwards at the lower end, or pull upon the shoul- 45 ias ut rm the amount of resiliency i der straps at the upper end. Inasmuch as the I very small and accordingly the garment is far material may be of awidth corresponding roughless comfortable. Furthermore, it is obvious that 1y to the circumference of the body, a great sava considerably greater amount of material'is eming in material results. I

played, since the material should be as wide as The present invention is not, of course, limited 50 the 'widest portion of the garment at the lower to the provision of an undergarment merely, since end, thereby resulting in a considerable waste an evening dress, night-gown, or any other artiof goods. cle of apparel may be constructed in accordance It is one of the principal objects of the preswith the present invention. This garment may cut invention to provide an improved garment have aamuch oras little fullnessasdesired, without substantially increasing theamountcof material used, since when more fullness is desired,it-

tact whether the wearer be sitting down or standing up. As heretofore stated, the customary bias cut garment pulls downwardly at the upper end,

thereby straining the shoulder straps, and moves upwardly at the lower end when a person sits down. In the present improved garment, there is virtually no strain at either upper or lower end,

, and as a result, shoulder straps can effectively be eliminated entirely.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an improved method for making a garment of the character above referred to, wherein the amount oflabor required to construct the garment is substantially less than at present, particularly by virtue of the fact that seams are almost entirely eliminated and the time required in cutting the goods is likewise greatly diminished.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of an improved garment construction, wherein a variety of necklines may be provided without altering the general structure of the garment. 1

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, the garment being shown in position upon the body --of the wearer;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the two blanks of material employed in the construction of the present garment;

Fig. 5 is similar to Fig. 4 which shows the two blanks folded and ready for cutting;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the two portions of cloth employed in the construction of the present garment, the view showing the cut-out portions in the main body of the garment; and

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the finished garment 1folded along its front and rear vertical center mes.

The embodiment of the invention which is chosen for illustration in the drawings is a ladies undergarment, or slip. It will be appreciated, however, that substantially the same directions as herein given may be followed for constructing an evening gown, a tea gown, a night-gown, or other article of wearing apparel. The blank III which constitutes the main body of the garment is substantially square and preferably employs the full width of the material. The complete garment, as heretofore stated, is constructed of two pieces of material, the second of which is indicated as H. The piece is triangular in shape .and forms the lower rear portion-of the garment and is generally known in the dressmaking art as a godet.

In making the garment, the body portion III 'is first folded along the central vertical line H (Fig. 4), said line 11-11 forming the front central line of the garment indicated at l2 in Figs. 5 and 7. The broken lines in Fig. '7, which complete the rectangle, show the full blank III in its originally folded position, and the line b--b therein constitutes the lower edge of this original blank, designated as l3-in Figs. 4 and 5. A triangular portion is cut from this lower edge,

thereby forming the lower edge ll of the main bodvof the garment.

A plurality of darts are now formed at the upselvage l6. A dart is defined as a short tapered seam uniting two edges where a piece has been cut away in order to fit the garment to the figure. In the instant case, the darts are desirably formed in'the body of the garment priorto the cutting. For the sake of clearness, however, in the plan view in Fig, 6, the cut-out portions are shown as having been formed prior to the stitching. This view actually shows the shape of the blank, however, ifnthe darts were first stitched, then the surplus portions cut from the rear side of the garment and the stitches thereafter removed.

It will be noted from Fig. 6 that the upper edge I! of the first cut-away portion, although curved, is substantially straight and parallel with the upper edge l8 of the garment. The lower edge l9 of this first cut-awayportion is somewhat downwardly inclined with reference to the upper edge l8 of the garment, and is formed with a greater curve than the edge H, as will be noted.

together along the stitch lines 20 and 2| which are parallel with their respective edges. In the event that this cut-out portion be formed prior to the stitching, the edges I1 and I! would be formed with a plurality' of opposed, unaligned notches 22 in substantially the relation shown. and when the two edges are stitched together along the stitch lines 20 and 2|, the corresponding notches, as indicated by the broken lines 24, are aligned with eachother. In other words, the curved edge I9 is not merely moved directly upwardly to be joined to the edge H, but rather is it eased or pulled towards the'rear of the garment. The marginal edge betweenthe stitch line 2| and the edge I9 is folded rearwardly and this entire portion 25 is raised upwardly to be joined to the upper portion 26 along the stitch line 20. In order to join the two edges in the relation indicated by the notched portions 22, it is obvious that the upper portion must be eased towards the front of the garment, and the lower one pulled upwardly and towards the rear of the garment. In other words, the upper edge I! is longer than the lower edge l9 and they are, as aforesaid, joined together in end to end relationship by having the lower edge under tension during the sewing of the seam, or by having this lower edge free from tension and gradually absorbing or taking up the greater length of the upper edge as the seam is made, thereby providing fullness in one edge relative to the other. Accordingly, in the appended claims, the meeting edges of the darts.

er edge 32 of the portion 29 and the upper edge 33 of the'portion 34 are joined together along the stitch lines 35 and 36, respectively. Whereas these darts may be formed in the manner Just described, it is nevertheless a more simple opera- 1 tion to form the stitches in the first instance, since the act of easing and pulling the material is more easily performed than if the cut-out portions were made previously.

After the three darts have been placed in the main body of the garment in the manner decribed, the surplus material in the rear portion thereof is trimmed, and a curved portion cutfrom the selvage along the line 31. This cut-out portion begins at the point 38, which is substantially one-third of the distance downwardly from the upper end of the blank, and terminates at or near the point 39, which is desirably somewhat below the upper edge I! of the blank. when the finished body portion of thegarment is folded flat along the line II, it assumes the position shown in Fig. 7 and it is stitched along the line 31. The vertical edge 40 of the portion 26 has been, in eflect, moved downwardly to the position shown in Fig. '7. Also, the partially curved and partially straight edge between the points c and d, correspond generally to the previously mentioned cut-away portion 31.

The triangular portion or godet ii is. then indicated at 43 is, in the upper portion of the garment, changed substantially 30, as indicated at. This latter grain line is; in effect, substantially parallel with the major portion of the upper edgev Ill of the garment, which edge, of course, engages the body considerably higher in the front than in the rear. Thus, it will be seen that this grain line is at an angle of approximately 30 from the true horizontal line, thus giving the garment the bias cut effect around the waist and hip portions thereof. As a result of the dart formation, the portions which engage the shoulder blade area are outwardly flared, as indicated at 45, as are the portions 4| which ensage the breasts.

The upper edge It of the garment may be finished with lace-or in any other desired manner. Also, a pair of shoulder straps '48 may be provided, although they are not entirely essen-,

tial.

In the'claims the expression the grain of the central portion of the blank being substantially on the straight means that either the warp. or weft of said central portion extends at right angles to the median line oaof the blank.

- What we claim is: 1

1. A body garment haying waist and skirt portions made from a blank having a central portion and side portions, the grain of the central portion of said blank being substantially on the straight, a plurality of elongated darts extendinginwardly and convergingly fromv the side edges of said blank, the. side edges being together so as to form a waist-encircling portion, the darts extending from the rear of the garment and through the underarm sections in the waist section of said garment, the material between said darts being disposed on the bias with reto dispose the threads of the material in the zone of the darts, and the material above and below the same, on a bias with respect to the front median line of the blank the side portions of each blank being secured together to form a waistencircling portion, said darts extending from the rear of the garment and through the underarm sections in the waist of said garment.

3. -A garment having waist and skirt portions made from a blank having a central portion and side portions, the grain of the central portion of said blank being substantially on the straight, an elongated dart extending inwardly from the rear of each of said side portions towards the central waist portion of the blank, the edges of the dart being so curved along segments of different circles as to dispose the threads of the material in the zone of each dart, and the material above and below the latter on a bias with respect to the front median line of the center portion, the side portions of said blank being se-,

gated dart which extends from. the bust portion to the rear of the garment, a seam joining theedges of said dart, the weave on one side of said seam being in a biased position relative to the weave on the other side of said seam, the meeting edges of the fabric of each dart being of unequal length, the longer edge being fulled relative to the shorter edge. 7

5. A body garment having waist and skirt portions, the fabric in the front of said garment ing edges being Joined throughout their entire length in order to provide fullness in the bust encirclingportion and to provide a progressively increasing bias from front to rear of the waist portion.

' insaamrsxonrm.

FRANCES R. MscKlNNON. 

